Elizabeth Settle » Children Mission Church Church Leadership Community

Every Christian in the church has a role to play in the work of the ministry. When developing a kids ministry, it’s up to church staff to identify, recruit, and organize volunteers into a cohesive team.

From Andrew Weiseth: Elizabeth Settle has nearly two decades of experience serving the church as a volunteer and on staff. From kids to campaign management, assimilation to communications, she’s done it all. These days she advises church leaders and writes resources, and she is currently authoring the new Mars Hill Kids curriculum.

As a church grows, staff pleas often shift from “we have got to get volunteers” to “I really need a new hire.” HR budgets aside, it is a church staff’s job to develop volunteer teams for disciple-making and loadbearing.

We invite people into service for growth

The Bible tells us in 1 Peter 2:5, “You yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.”

Each person in the church is a living stone who has a purpose: bearing Kingdom weight so that ministry walls can extend and more people can “come on in.” It’s Christ who edifies us. It’s Christ who assembles us. It’s Christ who bears the weight. But Jesus working in and through us builds our ever-growing spiritual house.

We invite people into service to avoid getting crushed

A stone in a wall bears real weight. As a staff member, your role is stacked with heavy to-dos. The more people (living stones) who serve alongside (offering spiritual sacrifices of service), the less likely you are to be crushed by your job.

Each person in the church is a living stone who has a purpose.

So how do we invite people into service? The same way Jesus does.

Jesus calls

Jesus works through people. We must lift our eyes and qualify people by listening to God’s call, not just by assessing credentials. Have eyes for the invisible and ears for the silent.

Jesus prays

When Jesus assembled his apostles, he prayed (Luke 6:12). Prayer is how a team discovers needed laborers. As Jesus said, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest” (Luke 10:2).

Jesus drafts

Jesus did not ask for a show of hands when recruiting his apostles. He did not make an announcement from a mountainside stage. After praying, each invitation was personal: “Come follow me.”

Jesus working in and through us builds our ever-growing spiritual house.

Jesus drafted people he knew from among his disciples (Luke 6:13). Who do you know?

Jesus drafted standouts—but not the typical “standouts.” He drafted the paradoxical weak-are-strong, servants-are-leaders, foolish-are-wise sorts of standouts. Who stands out to you?

Jesus drafted people he liked (Mark 3:13). Who do you enjoy being around?

Organizing ministry leadership

Now what? Organize your ministry into delegable chunks, and then administer the team with a simple cascading system. Ministry titles and details will vary, but cascading leadership looks something like this:

1. Pastor
2. Director
3. Coordinator
4. Lead
5. Team Member

The Coordinator tier of leadership is typically the staff member’s closest team. (Pastors and Directors are often staff, which makes the Coordinators the first tier of volunteer leaders.) The staff member must develop this team carefully, deeply, and primarily.

Organize your ministry into delegable chunks, and then administer the team with a simple cascading system.

Because the communicator is the perceived leader, reinforce leadership at each level by passing information through phone calls and face-to-face meetings rather than mass emails and announcements:

• Each Pastor communicates with their team of Directors.
• Each Director communicates with their team of Coordinators.
• Each Coordinator communicates with their team of Leads.
• Each Lead communicates with their Team Members.

Leadership isn’t just cascading communication, but cascading responsibility. The weight of responsibility must fall on the next “direct report” to build a strong team. For example:

• In cooperation with their Pastor, each Director must fill their team of Coordinators.
• In cooperation with their Director, each Coordinator must fill their team of Leads.
• In cooperation with their Coordinator, each Lead must recruit their Team Members.

When volunteers can’t make it, cascading responsibility determines who steps into the gap:

• If a service-time Team Member post is vacant because of a no-show, the Lead must step into the post.
• The Coordinator steps in to fill the vacancy left by the Lead.
• The Director shores up the Coordinator’s post.

Jesus drafted standouts—but not the typical “standouts.”

Lead and Team Member roles ought to rotate on A/B or every-other-week rosters. Additionally, a volunteer leader should have no more than eight to ten people on his team: when a team grows to eight, it’s time to divide responsibility and create another leadership post.

Organizing a ministry team is not easy. Remember the saying, “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a team roster to be full…” (Or something like that!)

But take heart. Jesus also promises, “What is impossible with man is possible with God” (Luke 18:27).

 

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